By the numbers: Missouri & the NFL draft

Thursday

Apr 25, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 25, 2013 at 11:56 AM

Dave Matter

The NFL draft begins with the first round Thursday night, and for the sixth time in five years, the commissioner will call a Missouri player's name, the official NFL indoctrination for a first-round draft pick.

Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, widely expected to shake Roger Goodell's hand midway through the first round, will extend a remarkable run for MU players in the draft.

Since the beginning of the 2009 draft, five Missouri players have been first-round selections. Only two schools have produced more first-rounders over the four previous drafts. Here's the breakdown of schools with the most first-round selections from 2009-12.

Missouri's number will go up to six Thursday. Florida will add one more in defensive tackle Shariff Floyd, perhaps another in safety Matt Elam. LSU will add one for sure, defensive end Barkevious Mingo, and maybe another, safety Eric Reid. Oklahoma will add another, left tackle Lane Johnson, while Georgia should add two, linebackers Alec Ogletree and Jarvis Jones. North Carolina, too, should have two more on its list, guard Jonathan Cooper and defensive tackle Sylvester Williams. Florida State could jump from two to six with cornerback Xavier Rhodes, offensive tackle Menelik Watson and defensive ends Bjorn Werner and Tank Carradine. Tennessee should double its recent first-rounders with receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter.

Still, Missouri will remain among the best producers of recent first-round talent, which can be looked at a few different ways. MU has won 23 games over the last seasons. Should a program producing this many first-round selections be winning more games? Should Missouri be attracting more sought-after recruits with this NFL track record as a prime selling point? On the other hand, does Missouri simply deserve credit for recruiting a handful of elite players and developing them into attractive NFL commodities?

• The big winner tonight should be defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski. Richardson will become his third first-rounder since the 2009 draft. Here's a rundown of Kuligowski-coached linemen in the draft:

Aldon Smith, 2011 first-round pick, No. 7, San Francisco

Ziggy Hood, 2009 first-round pick, No. 32, Pittsburgh

Stryker Sulak, 2009 sixth-round pick, No. 199, Oakland

Brian Smith, 2007 fourth-round pick, No. 113, Jacksonville

Atiyyah Ellison, 2005 third-round pick, No. 89, Carolina

C.J. Mosley, 2005 sixth-round pick, No. 191, Minnesota

Keith Wright, 2003 sixth-round pick, No. 214, Houston

Two more recent MU defensive linemen are still on NFL rosters after going undrafted: Dominique Hamilton (Washington) and Jacquies Smith (New York Jets).